Tohru
Tohru is a major character in the Jackie Chan Adventures series. He originally appears as an antagonist in season 1, but later becomes a protagonist in subsequent seasons. Appearance Tohru is portrayed as a large Japanese man, weighing approximately 480 pounds and standing taller than most of the characters in the series. His main outfit consists of a white T-shirt with brown overalls and brown sandals. He has black hair in a chonmage hairstyle, which is the traditonal hairstyle of samurais and sumo wrestlers. Personality Tohru is generally a rather slow person, both physically (because of his great bulk) and mentally. This does not mean that he is completely stupid, only that he goes rather easy on letting his mind do the hard work. During his time with the Dark Hand, Tohru was ruthless and would carry out any orders by Valmont to the limits of his efficiency and, if possible, beyond that. Ever since he quit the Dark Hand and joined the Chans, he has become more demure, easygoing and likable (mostly because of being in a more friendly place), and is very protective of his new friends and family. He is especially fond of Jade, with whom he has a brother-sister relationship. He even once threatened to turn his old master Valmont inside out if he doesn't keep Jade safe, as well as break free of the Mountain Demon Chi's power when Jade screamed. He often finds himself being pulled into Jade's plans. Tohru knows detailed and important information about the Oni from childhood stories told by his mother, which become vital during their hunt for the Oni Masks. He is very fond of kittens, likes grape soda and hates fish (which is a cultural irony, considering that in Japan fish makes up a large part of the local diet). The only things he truly fears are Oni and his formidable and constantly critical mother. He also refuses to hit women, as show when faced with the world's strongest woman, who was hired by Bartholomew Chang. However, this statement can be contradicted considering that he once attempted to cut open Jade's stomach to retrieve the Rooster Talisman and that he was ready to fight Viper's clone with no signs of holding back. Tohru enjoys serving people, especially those he likes. In The Chosen One, he's dismayed at being forbidden to do chores he'd normally be happy to do. And he shows a great deal of tolerance for other people's antics and bossing (like those of Jade and Uncle), rarely voicing his opinions forcefully. But Tohru has one condition in exchange for his loyalty: appreciation. His mother's acceptance means so much to him that he briefly considered working with a Japanese crime syndicate in order to regain that acceptance. He put up with Valmont's ungrateful attitude for a long while until he was forced to fight Shendu with obviously slim chances. And he finally got fed up with Uncle in The Demon Behind for attempting to overwork him instead of thanking him. History Background Little is known of Tohru's past with many details of his early life such as his childhood, adolescent years or even his surname and the identity and status of his father or other family (aside from his mother) being relatively unexplored. It is known that he was born a native Japanese citizen and, even as a child, is shown to have been very large. He developed a crippling fear and frequent nightmares of the Japanese demons known as Oni as a boy which was brought unintentionally on by his mother, who told him stories of their monstrous exploits against disobedient children so he would not misbehave. As an adult he moved to America at some point and became an enforcer for Valmont but did not especially desire such a life, only doing so because he was in need of money (which indicated he either did not receive a full education, or was unable to make enough money through legitimate means to support himself and/or his mother). Tohru was once the best enforcer for the Dark Hand who led Valmont's Enforcers during most of the talisman hunts on behalf of the dragon sorcerer Shendu, and a personal servant to Valmont. Despite his formidable size and strength, he proved to be no match for Jackie's martial arts skills and Jade's cunning. His string of defeats displeased Valmont so much that, for the hunt for one of the last talismans (the Pig), he hired the then-freelancer Hak Foo to ensure success of the mission - a switch which Tohru greatly resented. Eventually, Tohru changed sides when the Dark Hand succeeded in reviving Shendu, who then double-crossed Valmont. Forced to fight Shendu alone, Tohru was quickly defeated and sent flying out the side of the building, which he survived with moderate injuries. After providing Jackie and his friends with the decisive clue to track and stop the demon (specifically Shendu), he turned himself in to Section 13's authorities. When Shendu possessed Valmont and intended to free his fellow demon sorcerers, Jade recruited him into the fledgling J-Team. As part of the hunt for the demon portals, Uncle chooses Tohru as his apprentice in Chi sorcery. Tohru's magical skills become more proficient and independent over the course of the show. He also develops a sibling-like relationship with Jade, each understanding and protecting the other. Powers and Abilities Tohru fighting style is rather unique from the other characters in the series because of his large size, and combines the use of thrusts and tackles. He is not agile (and as such is unable to dodge attacks as well as Jackie or Jade). However, he has fast reflexes at certain times, which is evidenced at one point when he blocked a swordfish Jade threw at him using the Rooster Talisman. He is not afraid to use his weight to his advantage (which is evidenced by the fact that he used it to break open the water tower in order to defeat Valmont/Shendu). Out of all the members of the J-Team, Tohru possesses the greatest amount of physical strength and endurance. He is able to lift a sumo wrestler who was 1/3rd larger than him completely off the ground, which means that he is able to lift more than 500 pounds. He is also able to withstand devastating attacks that could potentially kill a normal human but he was able to survive these attacks albeit with injuries or being knocked unconscious. While working for the Dark Hand, Tohru would use more lethal attacks that could potentially kill his enemies, such as throwing a swordfish at the person or holding the person in a vice grip. Since joining the Chan family he prefers a more non-lethal approach in his attacks. Over the course of the series, Tohru gains knowledge on using chi spells, which he mainly uses as means of banishing demons, removing Oni Masks, and trapping the demon sorcerers' powers. Unlike Uncle, he does not use chi spells by means of offense, preferring to use his physical strength when engaging in combat. Appearances Season 1 *''The Dark Hand'' *''The Power Within'' *''The Mask of El Toro Fuerte'' *''Shell Game'' *''Project A, for Astral'' *''Bullies'' *''Tough Break'' *''The Rock'' *''The Jade Monkey'' *''The Dog and Piggy Show'' *''The Tiger and the Pussycat'' *''Day of the Dragon'' Season 2 *''Through the Rabbit Hole'' *''The Warrior Incarnate'' *''Snake Hunt'' *''The Mother of All Battles'' *''The Stronger Evil'' *''The J-Team'' *''Jade Times Jade'' *''Rumble in the Big House'' *''And He Does His Own Stunts'' *''Showdown in the Old West'' *''Queen of the Shadowkhan'' *''Shanghai Moon'' *''Armor of the Gods'' *''Tale of the Demon Tail'' *''Scouts Honor'' *''Danger in the Deep Freeze'' *''The New Atlantis'' *''The Eighth Door'' *''Demon World (Part 1)'' *''Demon World (Part 2)'' *''Pleasure Cruise'' *''Tough Luck'' *''The Chosen One'' *''Glove Story'' *''The Chan Who Knew Too Much'' *''Chi of the Vampire'' *''The Good, the Bad, the Blind, the Deaf and the Mute'' *''Shrink Rap'' *''I'll Be a Monkey's Puppet'' *''The Amazing T-Girl'' Season 3 *''Re-Enter the J-Team'' *''The Powers Unleashed'' *''Viva Las Jackies'' *''Monkey a Go-Go'' *''When Pigs Fly'' *''Rabbit Run'' *''The Invisible Mom'' *''A Jolly J-Team X-Mas'' *''Little Valmont, Big Jade'' *''The Ox-Head Incident'' *''Animal Crackers'' *''Tohru Who?'' *''Re-Enter the Dragon'' *''A Night at the Opera'' *''Attack of the J-Clones'' Season 4 *''The Masks of the Shadowkhan'' *''Samurai Ratso'' *''Black Magic'' *''The Demon Behind'' *''Fright Fight Night'' *''Half a Mask of Kung-Fu'' *''The Shadow Eaters'' *''The Good Guys'' *''Deja Vu'' *''The J-Tots'' *''Ninja Twilight'' Season 5 *''Relics of Demon Past'' *''It's All in the Game'' *''Black and White and Chi All Over'' *''The Demon Beneath My Wings'' *''Mirror, Mirror'' *''Antler Action'' *''Clash of the Titanics'' *''Stealing Thunder'' *''Weight and See'' *''J2 Revised'' *''The Powers That Be (Part 1)'' *''The Powers That Be (Part 2)'' Quotes *''"I hate fish."'' *''"Cookies."'' *''"Grape." (referencing to his fondness of grape soda)'' *''"Thank you fish." (after Uncle's blowfish revealed that Tohru was not an evil clone)'' *''"I am Tohru's clone."'' *''"What?" (usually in a confused manner, triggered when someone is angry at him for doing something wrong)'' *''"The (item of importance)" (used mostly while working for the Dark Hand. Items of importance include the talismans, the mask, the crystal, and the shield)'' *''"Yu Mo Gui Gwai Fai Di Zao."'' Trivia * Tohru weighs 480-485 pounds which he says is too small for a sumo, but in fact the average Japanese sumo weighs 330 pounds. However, the sumos in the same episode were shown to be about 50 percent bigger than him. * The sumo he faced in the competition closely resembles KOF character Chang Koehan, although without the chain and iron ball. * The talisman Tohru commonly uses is the Monkey talisman, which he uses to turn enemies into kittens (which Uncle scolded him about in one episode, since Uncle is allergic to kittens). He is also known to use the Rabbit talisman, which allows him to defeat enemies and carry objects over great distances in a short amount of time. * In the second episode of season 1, he is buried in several crates' worth of fish until he regains consciousness with a bellow of disgust, prompting the line, "I hate fish." This line becomes a running gag, spanning multiple seasons. (At one point when he lost his temper he even commented on the frequency he is "smothered with FISH.") * Like Jackie and Uncle, Tohru has a background theme that plays occasionally. His theme involves the use of a bass drum. Category:Characters Category:Demon chi absorbers Category:Reformed Villains Category:Chi Wizards Category:Humans Category:Male Characters Category:Japanese Characters Category:J-Team